Resilient
by NCISgirl1527
Summary: Resilient: Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Jane, Maura, and Frankie talk and reflect in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombings.


_**It's been a long time since I posted anything, but writing has always been my way to communicate with the rest of the world, and I felt that after the Boston Marathon Bombings I needed to do something. So here is my…tribute I suppose you would call it…to everybody affected.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters involved.**_

_**Spoilers: None**_

_**Dedication: To the City of Boston and all the people affected by the bombings.**_

Jane unlocked the door to her apartment without really seeing it. As she walked inside she dropped her keys on the table by the door and placed her detective badge next to it. Reflexively she went to remove her gun as well, but this time she hesitated. Her fingers twitched slightly for a moment before patting the weapon, and she decided to leave it in its place. The familiar weight was comforting, and it made her feel just a little bit safer.

"Hey Maura," she said glancing at her couch. She was not surprised to see her friend sitting there, and in truth she was glad. She did not want to be alone right now. "How long have you been here?"

"Not very long," Maura said quietly staring out the window of Jane's apartment.

"Do you want something to drink?" Jane offered. She could not explain why, but she felt a need to speak and break the silence, which felt eerie after nearly thirty-six hours of chaos and confusion.

"I made tea," Maura replied by way of an answer, "The water on the stove should still be hot if you want some too."

"Okay," Jane replied. She normally preferred coffee or beer over tea, but tonight the soothing powers of tea appealed greatly. Tonight…she was not sure if it really was night or which night it was. The concepts of days and time had ceased to have meaning somewhere many hours before. In fact, had the chief not told that she had been working for thirty-six hours and needed to go home, she would have no idea how much time had elapsed.

She made herself a cup of black tea and joined Maura on the couch. "Do we know anything?" Maura asked, not taking her eyes off the window.

Jane shook her head. "Not really," she responded, wishing she could give another answer, "there is a lot of footage to go though from security cameras, spectator photos, and new recordings, and then there is all the physical evidence." She paused. "We will get whoever's responsible for this."

"It doesn't seem real," Maura commented quietly, "not now. It seems like a bad dream I am going to wake up from."

Jane did not know how to answer. It was not a dream, though it did feel like one. After all, these things did not happen, not in America, not in Boston. Of course it had happened before, and they both knew that.

"Remember 9/11?" Maura asked, and Jane nodded. "It feels like that doesn't it?"

"Yes and no," Jane replied. "I remember 9/11. I remember Oklahoma City. This is different though. This is Boston. I live here. I grew up here. I took an oath to protect and serve. I've walked down Boylston Street more times than I can count. This is my city. This is personal."

Maura understood. She had grown up a different social circle that Jane had, but she still loved the city. She felt bound to protect it and powerless because she knew that she had not been able too. Boston pride ran strong throughout the city. That was not any secret. After all, how could you live in a city that had been through so much and spearheaded revolutions and not feel a sense of pride and connectedness?

"Were you at the precinct all day?" Maura asked.

"Pretty much," Jane replied, "I was helping the guys comb through footage." She had lost count of how many times she had watched the same horrible scene play out on the screen before her eyes. Even now, she could see those people's faces twisted in fear or pain or both. It was as though someone had branded the footage on to her eyes.

"I was on Boylston Street for hours," Maura said without Jane having to ask. "There were just so many people who were hurt. I guess we were lucky because some of the best doctors in Boston were there for the race, and everyone one was prepared to give aid, but no one was ready for something like this."

Jane nodded. She had seen the chaos and destruction when the bombs detonated because she and Maura had been standing there to watch the end of the marathon. The first explosion had shaken her but only for a moment. Then her training had kicked in, and she started running towards the mass of people determined to help however she could. Some where in all the chaos she lost track of Maura, but eventually she had caught sight of her friend kneeling beside and injured woman.

They were not the only ones though. Other people, first responders and civilians alike, had been running towards the explosion site and not away from it. Jane understood their need to help, but she still was awed by the kindness and generosity other people had displayed in the face of danger.

"Did you go to Mass General?" Jane asked her friend, who shook her head.

"I couldn't," Maura admitted, "There were so many injured people, so much pain, and if I'd gone to Mass General all I would have been able to do was watch. I had to be doing something. So after the tents cleared out, I went to the Common. A lot of people had been diverted there, and I wanted to see if I could help them find their families." Maura paused. "I passed one little girl, she had gotten separated to from her mom in all the confusion. She was just sitting on the sidewalk crying."

"What did you do?" Jane asked, knowing there had to be more to the story.

"I took her to the Common, and we looked around until we found her mother," Maura replied. It had taken a while to find the girl's mother because of all of the people and the confusion, but they had gotten lucky and found her by the playground looking for her daughter.

"That was good of you," Jane said quietly.

"It's what you would have done," Maura pointed out, "It's what anyone of us would have done, anyone in Boston. We look out for each other."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Both women tensed, and Jane reached for her gun. "It's me Jane," Frankie's voice called from the other side of the door.

Jane stood up, walked quickly to the door, opened it, and threw her arms around her brother. "You okay?" she asked him, letting go and relocking the door.

"Yeah," he said, "I was pretty far away when the bombs went off. I didn't even know what was going on under they radioed us to start redirecting the rest of the runners."

The three fell into silence, and after a few minutes, Maura got up and walked over to the window. As she looked out over the city she sighed. It was brighter than usual with many buildings lit up, and every so often a cop car would go by with its sirens blaring.

"She'll be okay," Maura said quietly. Jane and Frankie looked at her. "Boston," she clarified, "she'll be okay."

"Of course she will," Jane replied, "we're going to catch the bastards that did this, and they are going to pay for it, but they should have already realized that they failed. Bostonians are resilient, and so is our city. They didn't break our spirit, and they never will."

_**So there it is. Like I said it has been a long time, but I felt this need to be written.**_


End file.
